Chess Champion Used iPod Touch to Cheat in Tournaments

A Georgian chess champion has been accused of using his iPod touch to cheat in tournaments. Gaioz Nigalidze hid his device in the restroom during at least one match, using it to analyze the game being played.

Nigalidze was expelled from the Dubai Open Chess Tournament after organizers discovered an iPod touch, wrapped in toilet paper, stored in a bathroom stall that he visited after each move. Though Nigalidze denied that the device belonged to him, it was logged in to a social networking site under his name and an iOS chess app was found with one of his games on screen.

The search was performed following an inquiry from Armenian opponent Tigran Petrosian.

“I noticed that he would always visit the same toilet partition, which was strange, since two other partitions weren’t occupied,” Petrosion the Telegraph. He notified tournament officials, who then searched the stall.

“What they found was the mobile phone with headphones; the device was hidden behind the pan and covered with toilet paper,” Petrosion added.

Concern about electronic device being used to cheat in tournaments has long been a concern for chess tournament officials.

In 2011, the French chess federation suspended three players, including the national team captain, after it was alleged they used text messages, a remote chess computer and coded signals to beat opponents at the 2010 Chess Olympiad.